Decoder with Nilay Patel · Thursday, July 16, 2026
According to Proton CTO Bart Butler, the core value proposition of Proton's suite of products, which includes mail, VPN, and office tools, is trust. He elaborated that this trust is built not just on the people within the company, but also on the technology developed and the corporate structure designed to incentivize privacy.
“You'll hear Bart say pretty plainly that the thing Proton sells at a high level is isn't really the products themselves. But actually trust.”
“And trust in the software world isn't only about the people who run the companies. But also the technology they develop and sell and the corporate structures and place to make sure that technology is built against the right incentives.”